


The Miscellaneous Adventures of A Dumbledore

by Anixara



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Time Travel, Eventual Relationships, F/M, Gen, I promise it's at least a little interesting, I want the hook to be a surprise so the prologue doesn't explain a lot, Rating May Change, Time Shenanigans, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It, by the time relationships start becoming a thing though the hook will be spoiled
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-26
Updated: 2020-08-08
Packaged: 2021-03-03 19:08:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 14,540
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24920587
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Anixara/pseuds/Anixara
Summary: Sometimes family drama will pop back up when you least expect it and bite you right in the arse. Albus and Aberforth’s worlds have just been flipped upside down during a highly emotional time for them, and the truth will change everything that they know.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 18





	1. The Girl Who Tripped Through Time

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life has always been a tad difficult, but what happened to her next she would never expect.

Hogwarts - 24 August, ????

* * *

Pain was expected.

Or maybe a cold icy feeling.

Possibly she should have felt some small amount of fear even.

Instead all she felt was warmth as the sound became muffled and darkness took over her sight. It was instantaneous and was a shocking difference from what had been happening just seconds before. The screaming and yelling, the flashing of curses flying, the anger and rage palpable in the room. It had started as abruptly as it stopped, at least that’s what it had felt like. How quickly the quiet disagreement became a battle.

She took in a deep breath, then a few more as she realized she could still breathe.

It smelled a little musty, different than what she was used to smelling in her home.

She was also lying down apparently.

Funny since she had been standing, she was sure of it. Now it seemed her hearing was returning, as she listened to the distinct echoing sound of footsteps, however rather than the thumping of wooden floors it was more like brick or stone. Which was what she seemed to be lying on as well. ~Alright, buck up. You are obviously not dead, so just open your eyes.~

And open them she did, before having to close them quickly as sunlight seemed to beam directly into them. A few more attempts, lifting her hand to block out the light from the window to her left.

Well that was good, she could move it seemed, and at least her hand was perfectly intact.

All five fingers there and present.

Good, though she should check the rest of her really, as feeling returned and she could only establish the fact her body felt tired.

Slowly sitting up she looked at her other hand, stretching out her fingers, then wiggled her toes in her shoes. Everything seemed in one piece, though her dress looked quite dusty. Slowly standing up she tried to rectify that, but alas there was only so much to help after lying down on a stone floor. She seemed to be close to the outside too, as she turned around slowly taking in her surroundings. She seemed to be standing in a stone entryway, large wooden double doors towering over her, and behind her was a large staircase.

Those footsteps sounded much closer now before stopping abruptly and being followed by a gasp. Turning to the staircase and looking up, she saw a woman standing there, looking quite startled, apparently shocked to be seeing someone else. Once more trying to dust off her dress she gave a small nervous cough, before trying to talk. “H-Hello there-“ She stopped talking and swallowed nervously, noticing how dry her mouth was when she tried to talk. “I am terribly sorry but, I am not quite sure where I am.”

The woman on the stairs seemed to recover herself, walking down the stairs quickly. “Well, that is certainly odd, do you remember how you arrived here my dear?” Coming closer the woman had a stern yet oddly caring look about her, her dark hair tied up into a tight bun with a large witches hat on her head. That plus her robes helped to paint the picture that she was very much a member of the magical world, which put her more at ease. “Mm, that is part of the problem I believe… There was the duel and, well it all happened so fast… My brothers, oh Merlin they are probably worried sick over me.” “There there now, take a deep breath, and let’s start at the beginning hmm? You said there was a duel?” The woman had walked over now, taking out her wand and seeming to be checking her over. “Ignore the wand dear, just a quick check.”

“Uhm, yes… Well, I am… My eldest brother’s friend, he loves to get my other brother riled up you see. He is rather brilliant, like my eldest is, and knows how jealous my brother, the other one that is, gets about that. I was outside when it started, so I… I am not sure what exactly was said, but when I came in there was yelling, and before I knew it everyone had their wands out and… and then I was here, somewhere I do not know, lying on the floor.” The woman standing in front of her looked quite perplexed, looking her over as she listened. “I see, well let me be the first to welcome you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. My name is Professor McGonagall, I take it you are not a student here, as I have never seen you before. And I take great pride in remembering all of my students.”

That was definitely not what she expected to hear, and she felt her jaw drop before she could catch it.

This was Hogwarts?

She was actually here?

Once more she looked around her, putting the place to the name and a wonderfully warm feeling emerged in her chest. “I’m in Hogwarts? Truly? Oh I have always wanted to see it for myself!” She turned once more to the woman, who now had a small almost sad smile on her face. “Well, if anyone can solve the mystery of your appearance here, it would be the Headmaster. Follow me please, and do keep up. The castle is large, and likes to change, it is quite easy to get lost when you don’t know where to go.”

Without even a chance to respond they were off, quickly back up the stairs the way the Professor had come it seemed. But that was alright, she was quite fit after all, thanks to helping with chores the muggle way as often as she could. “I think the fight was something about me, I’m always bungling up something or other for my family it seems.” She tried to look at everything and anything as she followed the Professor, smiling at the many portraits looking at her as they walked.

Quickly they made their way to what must be the headmaster’s office, that appeared to be guarded by a large quite interesting looking gargoyle. Professor McGonagall walked up to it and spoke clearly, “Licorice Wand”, and she watched as the gargoyle hopped out of the way. “This way lass, I’ll go in first and will call you in once I know he’s not too busy just now.” The Professor walked up the stairs leaving her to wait.

It felt like forever, though she had a lovely talk with one of the portraits outside of the office, before the door opened again and the Professor beckoned her inside. She once more tried to brush off that annoying dust, smiling as McGonagall cast a quick cleaning spell to do it for her. Feeling much better she walked up the stairs and into the office, stopping for a second to take in the odd knickknacks and sleeping portraits that were around.

Turning to face forward she saw an elderly man with a crooked nose, long white hair, and a long white beard standing in front of a desk. He was wearing some strange highly colorful robes and was staring at her from a pair of half-moon glasses with a shocked look on his face. He removed the glasses, wiped them on his robe, and put them back on, as if he could not believe what he was seeing. Professor McGonagall looked between the two of them, apparently as confused by his reaction as she was. After a few false starts, finally he seemed to gather his wits. “Pardon me young lady but… may I ask your name?” She felt a little nervous now, trying to remember anything her brothers had told her about their headmaster. “My name is Ariana sir, Ariana Dumbledore.”

She was not sure what she expected, but she certainly had not expected his face to go white as his hair as he nearly fell back on his desk.


	2. The Reports Of Her Death Have Been Greatly Exaggerated

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Albus has had many years to make peace with everything that happened in his youth. Too bad the universe didn't get the memo.

Hogwarts - 24 August, 1976

* * *

Seventy seven years since that horrible day. Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore had been nursing a small cup of brandy, taking some time to himself to mourn quietly, as he had taken to doing long ago. He had just celebrated his 95th birthday just two days earlier, which he had spent with a few of his old friends to catch up and chat. He took in a deep breath, holding it in for ten seconds, before exhaling slowly as he sat back in his chair.

Not for the first time he let himself fall adrift to a series of what-ifs and should-haves.

Maybe if he’d been faster, smarter, more selfless…

He sighed softly closing his eyes to give himself the time he needed before the frantic week before school. It was a few minutes before he noticed one of his artifacts monitoring the wards of Hogwarts seemed to be going haywire. Sending a quick patronus to Minerva to investigate, he sat up as he wiped his eyes. It seemed his grief would be put on pause for the day, waving his hand over the still full glass of brandy, vanishing it before he picked up his wand and paused again, looking at it in his hand. Was it worth the sacrifices required, for him to finally obtain this wand? He had lost so much that day, more than he had even thought on the day it happened. It was only just recently that he and Aberforth had put the past behind them, agreeing to work together to stop the rising Dark Lord who used to be young Tom Riddle. He was guilty of using their shared grief to pull the strings required to get him to agree, but the Order of the Phoenix needed all of the trustworthy help it could get. Albus pulled himself from his melancholy and stood from his chair. Whatever or whoever had caused the wards to alert him, Minerva was bound to have found by now and so he just had to wait.

Within a few minutes a telltale knock was on his door and he called out allowing for her to enter, smoothing his face into his usual knowing smile. Even if you’re completely clueless, act like you know what’s happening and others will listen, a lesson he learned as a child in these very halls. “Ah Professor McGonagall, I take it you found the source of the disturbance?” The usually strict woman looked highly confused and walked in. “It appears I have Albus, though I can’t say it makes much sense. I found… Well I found a young woman standing by the entrance to the castle.”

Well, he hadn’t expected that. Blinking a few times he rose his eyebrows slightly. “I see, does she know how she get here?” “Well that’s one of the strange things… According to her, she was witnessing a duel between a few older wizards in her family, and was possibly hit by a stray blast-“

Albus felt his breath leave his body, setting a hand on the desk beside him to stop himself from falling over. What were the bloody odds? Luckily Minerva appeared to have not noticed as she simply continued, but what she was saying was definitely not making him feel much better. “- next thing she knew she was on the floor. Now she’s obviously quite young, I’d say possibly fifteen at the oldest, so I have no idea what magic could have been possible to have her end up here. I have her waiting outside, should I call her in so we can get to the bottom of this?” Albus took in a slow breath through his nose having once again schooled his features.

It had to be today of all days that something this… odd, happened.

Well that was perfectly fine, he could handle odd coincidences.

“Indeed, please do call her in. I’ll admit I’m quite intrigued.” More than quite, definitely more than quite. He felt like his heart was going crazy inside his chest as he watched Minerva walk out of his office. It was impossible, obviously. He knew it was impossible, obviously.

Then the impossible became possible as she walked in through the door, looking exactly as he remembered her. Golden hair falling over her shoulders, just slightly messy and ruffled as she never seemed to be able to keep it neat. Large blue eyes, just like his own, and Abe’s, staring out at the world in wonder as they took in all of the information around her.

Then those bright eyes were staring right into his own and he felt his breath leave him all over again. He found himself unable to speak, so many questions dancing on his lips as he tried. It just was not possible, it could not be her. It simply could not. He tried cleaning his glasses, surely it was some trick of the light or something, because she could not be standing there, in his office at Hogwarts.

When she spoke her name, with her voice, he knew it was true. No magic could be used like this. Oh there was some form of magic involved for certain, but this…

Albus brought a trembling hand to his mouth as he forced himself to take in deep breaths, ignoring the shocked gasp that came from Minerva as she looked at who could only be his sister in front of him. Albus had to lean against his desk as he watched what looked to be concern and a tad bit of fear enter her face. “… My dear, I have to ask, what year is it?” “What sort of question is that? 1899 of course.” Minerva opened her mouth only for Albus to raise his hand, stopping her from speaking.

Albus took another deep breath, before smiling and opening his arms as a form of welcome. “I believe you might want to sit down for the rest of this conversation, we need to find out how you got to Hogwarts after all… Minerva would it be possible for you to go fetch Madame Pomfrey for me? Tell her we’ll be needing some Calming Draught as well as Pepper-up and possibly a small dose of Dreamless Sleep.”

Minerva McGonagall was not a daft woman, and she probably knew he was just trying to get her to leave, but still she left to go do as he asked. As she walked away Ariana walked closer, wearing the same outfit she had been on the day that… Not now, focus. She sat down in front of him, looking up at the portraits that were pretending to sleep. Albus cast a subtle silencing spell around them with a quick flick of his wand, not needing that day to become common gossip with the previous headmasters. Especially not Phineas Nigellus.

“Now then Ariana, let’s start at the beginning, and hopefully I can clear a few things up once I know what you do.” Albus was terrified of how he was supposed to explain to her exactly how much she had missed, but… was he not just wishing for a second chance? She appeared to be thinking, chewing on her bottom lip as she always had when she was scared of being in trouble. “… Well, you see… Well you must know my brothers, Albus just graduated this last semester after all, absolutely brilliant he is…” His heart clenched at the affection in her voice, he had been so sure it was HIS spell that…

“Oh bugger”

The look on her face morphed to one of what he could only describe as sorrow and terror as she seemed to realize something. Did she just realize it had been him? Did she just remember that during the duel- “Oh Albus is going to be furious with me, I was already being such a bother and Ab- oh _no_ please _please_ don’t be upset with them Headmaster!” Ariana was sitting up looking almost frantic now with urgency. He could sense her untapped magic starting to spike, however was he not now known as the strongest wizard in the world? Reaching forward and placing two sturdy hands on her shoulders, keeping a gentle but firm pressure as he looked into her eyes. “Deep breaths now dear, no one is in trouble. I promise you _no one_ is in trouble. I’m not upset, Albus _won’t_ be upset… We’re just trying to find out what happened to bring you here.”

It worked, he could feel her calming down, and breathing along with him. Her face had also turned contemplative it seemed as she stared back at him. “… If you’re sure sir…” Oh he did not like her calling him that. “Well… I suppose it started with Al’s new friend he made this summer, he’s brilliant, from Durmstrang you see. He’s been visiting his aunt Bathilda who lives close by us back in Godric’s Hollow. Albus has been spending nearly everyday with him you see, and he’s so happy right now, or at least he was…” She was sitting back in her chair now, looking away wistfully. “Until I went and mucked it all up again… I’m always mucking everything up for Albus it seems… Gellert’s explained it to me a few times already and I know he’s right…”

Albus clasped his hands together, frowning deeply. “Now how on Earth have you been… ‘mucking everything up’ as you put it?” When the tears started he was at a complete loss of what to do. “It’s always my fault isn’t it?” That was a startling thing to hear her say.  
“They’ve never said it, but I know that my brothers blame me for everything, Gellert told me so. He told me that Albus has always known I was too weak… It’s my fault about… about my accident, Albus knows it, and Aberforth does too. They know it was my fault that Father was sent away…” She tried to wipe her eyes to keep the tears in her eyes from falling. “My fault that I’m so… so freakish and unstable, that I was too weak to just… just _get over it_. My fault I wasn’t allowed into Hogwarts, my fault M-Mother…” She covered her face with her hands, nearly sobbing into them.

“It’s all my fault that Albus couldn’t go on his special trip that he had been planning for so long… My fault that he has to, has to _take care_ of me… My fault that he and Abe are always fighting now…” She took a deep breath, sniffling to herself. “It’s my own fault that they hate me, I know they do. Gellert explained it all to me. He told me it’s my own weakness that did it. That if I wasn’t so stupid and weak that those boys wouldn’t have bothered me…”

Ariana looked to him, a watery smile on her face. “I tried arguing with him at first, stupid me. I… I had finally started trying to control my magic again. When Abe left for Hogwarts and I realized I was alone with just Mother… It was our secret, she was trying to help me… She told me that… that once I had control then I might get my Hogwarts letter, and I was doing so… I was doing _so well_ that Mother, she told me that this year maybe the letter would come. I hadn’t had any problems in so long…” She sniffled again and rubbed her now red eyes. “Of course he explained everything after I told him ­ _that_ bit of information.”

The decades had passed and Albus knew exactly where Grindelwald was, and he was sorely tempted to apparate all the way to Nurmengard to find out what exact garbage he had filled his sister’s head with under his nose, but it had been over seventy years. He once more placed a hand on her shoulder, keeping his voice calm and steady and clinging to his practiced “peaceful mentor” look. “You keep saying he explained everything…” “That Albus and Aberforth blame me of course. About how weak and pathetic and dense I am about everything. How it’s my fault those muggles attacked me to begin with obviously… Oh no, oh please never repeat that sir, oh I _am_ a dunderheaded ninny…”

Albus shushed her softly, realizing how far off track this had gotten. He needed to know this though, it explained so much about those last few months… It had been so long now that he wasn’t sure but he knew that his sister hadn’t been as… close at the end. It was one of his biggest regrets from that time, but now it appeared that Gellert had done this on purpose. “Now now, calm down dear. So the duel was between Aberforth and Gellert?” “Oh… Oh right, yes. Well I… I’m sure it was my fault as well, but… Well what I remember is Gellert was inside talking with Abe… Then I started hearing yelling from inside so I went in and… spells were flying everywhere and I...” She stopped, biting at her lip again. “I tried to stop them… I tried to use my magic but then I saw a flash of purple light and then… well then I was on the floor here…”

Albus took in a deep breath and breathed out slowly as he processed everything, having hopped onto his desk now with his elbows on his knees. “… Ariana your brother’s friend Gellert is not a nice person. He is a deceitful man who poisoned your mind against you… I can honestly tell you your brothers do not hate you…” The skeptical look she shot him broke his heart and he knew he had to be delicate about this. For him this was ancient history, for her, this all just happened.

“… Gellert Grindelwald on August 24th of 1899 used the Cruciatus Curse on Aberforth Dumbledore, I- Albus… Albus defended his brother and ignited a three-way duel between them. It ended as quickly as it began when their sister was caught by a spell and… seemingly died.” Albus looked at her sitting there in front of him, not able to stop the tears in his eyes as she seemed to be absorbing this. “It was the worst moment of their lives, and tore them apart… Grindelwald fled and quickly followed a dark path… Albus left to France, giving Aberforth time to grieve alone, as well as giving himself somewhat of a reprieve from everything… He was there for some time, helped a few people with research on various things, then returned home quickly deciding that what he really wanted to do was teach… He began teaching at Hogwarts in 1906, beginning a truly rewarding career that he highly enjoyed, while Aberforth went on to opening an enchanting pub down in Hogsmeade.” Ariana’s mouth opened but snapped shut as Albus stood up, moving around his desk as he continued. “Grindelwald continued making himself known, gaining followers and powers, beginning to preach loudly about destroying the Statute of Secrecy and taking over freedom from the muggles. He was against hiding and in 1926 nearly succeeded in announcing the presence of wizards by nearly destroying New York City in the Americas however he was stopped and the statute was saved by an American Auror, her sister who was a secretary, a local muggle, and one Magical Creature enthusiast who had been expelled from Hogwarts his 6th year due to an incident with a jarvey.”

Albus sat down in his seat, seeing her eyes widened in shock as she again appeared to try to speak, however he continued. “He was captured and contained for almost a year, before escaping once more and his following continued to grow. Eleven years later a child began to attend Hogwarts who showed similar dark leanings to young Gellert, during the child’s fifth year a young girl was killed and Albus was the only one to suspect the child. It was in 1945, the year the child graduated, when Albus realized that there were possibly be two Dark wizards amassing their armies. He realized that he was the only one who could fight Grindelwald and so they dueled. I won and Gellert has been locked away in Nurmengard ever since. For twenty five years everyone grew complacent, then the child, now a man, made himself publicly known as Lord Voldemort and began what has now become a full scale war. He twice over attempted to get a job here as the Defense Against the Dark Arts Professor, only for first the previous headmaster to deny him first, than I myself denied him twenty five years later.”

Ariana was staring at him now, those wide blue eyes seeming to be taking him in. Albus set his elbows on his desk and folded his hands together, a small sad smile on his face. She appeared to be processing everything he said, watching her face turn to one of shock as she appeared to be putting it all together. “… Ariana… My dear there is possibly no easy way to explain this. However history has taught me that to be honest with family is the only way. It is August 24th of the year 1976, and I am Albus Percival Wulfric Brian Dumbledore, the headmaster of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. You have been gone for 77 years to the day, we thought you dead, and yet… Here you are, sitting before me just as I remember you from that day…”


	3. O’ Brothers Do Stop Your Quarreling

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 77 years gone in a blink of an eye, and yet some things apparently never change. What potion is best for this size of a headache?

Hogwarts - 24 August, 1976

* * *

Ariana stared at this old man claiming to be Albus.

His story was fantastical at best, but that woman who had been here had been calling him headmaster.

If he was telling the truth than that would mean she had been dead, or at least thought of as dead, for decades now. She was in a totally different century now. Swallowing thickly she stood up, walking around the desk to look at him.

Her Albus was a clean shaven newly 18 year old man who had been excited by anything he could put his mind towards. This old man… he was very much the stereotypical old wizard it looked like, and he surely still had Albus’ fashion sense…

He simply let her walk in front of him, looking up at her from his highbacked chair with a twinkle in his eye. That was very familiar, every time Albus had explained something from school to her, or explained something he had figured out…

“How do I know you’re telling the truth?” She was determined not to be stupid again, maybe Gellert was a bad person who should never be trusted, but he had been right about some things. She was too trusting of others and had been too afraid of her magic. She had to think for herself and control it, not let it control her. “You said you’re Albus, tell me something only he would know.”

The man, who might be Albus, let out a soft chuckle as he sat back in his chair. “Well, let’s see… Keep in mind it has been a while. Aberforth kept a few goats around the house who simply adored you. You used to call me Al and Aberforth Abe more often than not… when we were younger I gave you a fabric toy phoenix before I went off to Hogwarts. Your favorite deserts were the raspberry tarts mother used to make for us as children as she only made them for special occasions. You highly enjoyed creating your own knitting patterns and testing them out with different socks…” He looked up into her eyes, a pained emotion in them. “And neither Aberforth nor I ever blamed you. Not for what happened at Mould-on-the-Wold, nor for what happened with our father, and certainly not for what happened with Mother. I was upset at the time yes, but not with _you_. Never with you, I was upset about the situation. I wish you had told me you were trying to control your magic again, I could have tried to help… All I really wanted was to protect you and Ab, but I fell or what Gellert… He knew how to twist his words to make others do as he wanted. I was foolish for falling for it then and what happened has been my greatest regret…”

Ariana stared at him, reaching forward and gently removing the half-moon glasses, placing them on the desk carefully. She leaned closer, looking into his face, trying to imagine him without the beard, without the lines on his face. His nose looked like it had been broken, however if it had been fixed… Reaching forward and lightly touching his face she tried to see her brother through all of this.

“… Your nose is different.”

“Aberforth broke it.”

“Ah, now that I believe, you two were always going at it…”

“So you believe me then?” He reached his hand up to hold hers loosely, his hand warm as she inspected his face.

“… It all seems a tad like making a stuffed bird laugh honestly… But… Yes I believe you… Is, is Abe… is he-“ “He’s alive and well, running that pub I mentioned… Oh dear, yes hmm…” He appeared to realize something then, sitting up and pulling a quill over, only to second guess himself and set the quill back down while standing now. “Let me floo him quickly, I have no idea how he’s going to handle this…”

As Albus was walking to the floo, waving his wand vaguely behind him, the door to the office opened once more and in walked Professor McGonagall followed by another lady wearing what looked to be a healer robes. “Albus, care to share the meaning of this?” “In a moment Minerva, in a moment. Hogshead Inn, Hogsmead.” Apparently that was that as his head was now in the fire, most likely talking to Aberforth. Ariana walked back around to the chair she had been sitting in and sat back down as the matron and Professor walked over. “I don’t suppose you have anything to say about what’s happening hmm?” The stern woman appeared to be used to whatever it was that was happening, perhaps Albus had a habit of keeping her in the dark?

“I mean, I have no idea if it should be a secret, but I think he wants to talk to his brother first.” Ariana sat still as the healer moved her wand over her body. “Well that’s just how the Headmaster is at times isn’t it Minerva. Hello dear you can call me Madam Pomfrey, I heard Professor McGonagall already did a quick diagnosis so I’ll do a few more in depth charms. Were you able to learn how it is that you got here my dear?”

“Oh, hmm… have not quite worked that part out yet unfortunately.” Ariana felt as though her mind was slowly catching up with what had happened, her heart racing now as she tried to focus on her breathing. It was 1976, she was in the future. Her brothers had grown without her and thought she was dead. Or perhaps she had died? Was there a body after she had been hit by the spell? Was that why they had presumed her dead?

“Easy now, well however it was that you arrived it’s quite obvious you’ve used an impressive amount of magic. Your core seems almost depleted right now, much like when a child has a strong burst of accidental magic… It’s quite possible you somehow managed to apparate here on your own, though how you got through the wards I haven’t the foggiest. Minerva please hand those potions to the dear, now take the entirety of the blue one first, followed by the red and… yes the dark purple one last, only one swallow that one dear.” Ariana blinked looking at the matron questioningly. She was sure to do as told and took the potions as they were handed to her. Before she could respond to the questions however, Albus withdrew from the fire and soon another older man followed. He was slightly taller than Albus, wearing an apron over his somewhat dingy looking work robes. Where Albus’ hair had turned white it appeared Aberforth’s had turned grey, at least she believed this had to be Aberforth since right when he came through he began arguing.

“Just because we’re back on speaking terms doesn’t mean you can come calling for me all willynilly Albus! I agreed to help you against that no good brat but I have no idea what is going on through your head that you can just demand I come meet you. You know what day it is-“

“Alright Albus I officially believe you.”

It was much like how she had felt when she appeared at Hogwarts, going from yelling to dead silence. At her voice Aberforth had whipped around and if she looked past the wiry beard and dirty eyeglasses she was positive that he was shocked. “Honestly, over seven decades and the two of you are still getting into collie shangles.”

“What did you _do_?” Aberforth looked at Albus, looking quite angry, while Albus appeared to be trying to find something to say. Ariana at this point had just about enough. “Oh stop your posturing Ab, really! Albus did nothing, and I will tell you what I told him. I walked in on that three-way duel, tried to stop the fighting, I was hit by some spell and woke up here less than an hour ago. As far as I know, Albus might have had nothing to do with it.” Ariana was positive she was going to have a headache from their arguing if it was indeed like when they were children. She was tired and quite finished with listening to the two of them bicker. Honestly with the two of them off at Hogwarts so often she had forgotten how bad the two of them got. “I assure you Aberforth I was as shocked as you are now.” Alright maybe at least Albus had grown up, he was definitely not rising to Aberforth’s challenges as he used to.

“I’m sorry, perhaps it’s not my place but am I missing something here?” The three Dumbledores looked at Professor McGonagall, who had thin pursed lips and a shrewd look on her face as she stared at Albus, raising one delicate eyebrow as he uncomfortably coughed into his hand. “Ah, quite right, an explanation is in order it seems.” “I’d like to think so, as well as a medical background if you should have it Headmaster. From what I can see this girl has a history of repeated severe magic build-up, followed by a drastic decrease to her core.” Madam Pomfrey was still running her wand over Ariana, different colors and symbols floating in the air seemingly telling the matron… well something indeed.

Aberforth walked closer, appearing to look conflicted as he stared at her, quite wary of approaching. Ariana kept from rolling her eyes and simply gave him a small smile as Albus was trying to find what he wanted to say. “I suppose the truth as I know it is best in this situation. Minerva, Poppy, may I introduce… My younger sister, Ariana Dumbledore.” The medi-witch’s hand stopped as Professor McGonagall’s mouth appeared to drop open. “Yes that was my reaction when you brought her in as well, but after a long conversation I can honestly say that this is indeed her, having not aged a day from when she apparently disappeared 77 years ago today.”

“Disappeared, she bloody well died Albus!” Aberforth looked to still be in a rage, his hands clenched into fists as he talked through his teeth. Without a second thought, and with a strange almost numb feeling spreading to her limbs from her chest, Ariana stood up and strode over to her older brother. Next thing she knew she was enveloping him in a tight hug around his middle, as she always did to try and calm him down and prevent a fight between the two brothers. She felt him tense, and simply squeezed tighter, looking up at him with a stern look that she had often been told rivaled their mother’s. “Aberforth Cymatilis Dumbledore it is quite obvious that I am _not_ dead, and therefore did _not_ die. Now I have no idea how I ended up here, or why whatever happened took this long, but I am here now and you will _stop picking fights with Albus_! Honestly that’s how we _got_ into this situation in the first place!”

“… Alright, I’m convinced.” Aberforth looked highly uncomfortable, trying to blink away the tears in his eyes as he hugged his sister back, looking at Albus over her head with an incredulous look on his face. Albus could only shrug in response, opening his arms as if to say ‘I tried to tell you’, before turning to Professor McGonagall and Madam Pomfrey.

“As you can infer there are quite a few mysteries into what exactly it was that caused this particular magic.” Madam Pomfrey sniffed and waved Ariana back over to her, the teenager letting go of her brother with another warning look before obediently walking back to the medi-witch. “Well, then I must insist on her coming to the infirmary, honestly with the amount of magic that was drained you shouldn’t even be able to stand right now. Albus, I was serious about those medical records, and if you have no record then I’ll be needing all three of you to tell me as much as you can. Come along dear onto the stretcher now.” As she spoke she had transfigured a medical stretcher out of what appeared to be a handkerchief and charmed it to float steadily in front of her.

Despite Ariana’s protests, Madam Pomfrey would hear nothing of it and so the young girl was forced to relent and allow herself to be floated out of the room, followed quickly by her brothers and Professor McGonagall, the three quietly talking amongst themselves. She was trying to remember the last time she had been to a healer. It had to have been the day those boys had attacked her. After all it was only following that day that she grew afraid of her own magic. It had taken her a long time to stop fearing her magic, to remind herself that it was a part of her, and she had been doing so well until the Monday after her brothers had come back from Hogwarts this summer… summer of 1899 that was…

Oh she was getting quite the headache from all of this. Laying back on the stretcher she closed her eyes, trying to alleviate the throbbing from behind her eyes as her mind started actually comprehending everything that had happened. “That’s right dear, just relax now. You need your rest.” The voice of the matron was almost muffled it sounded like, as soon Ariana drifted off.


	4. Time to Tell a Tall Tale

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A believable backstory is required, with a war incoming it’s best not to have the truth out there just yet. Congratulations Ab, you’re a grandfather now. Time to create a secret family?

Hogwarts - 27 August, 1976

* * *

Aberforth had never enjoyed studying. It was one of those things that the perfect son Albus was much better at during school. He was always more of a hands on learner, best with the practical portions of his classes. So how was it that he was in the middle of the Hogwarts library on a Friday night when he should be at his bar serving his customers? Sure there were never more than possibly five at a time but still.

Huffing quietly to himself, he shuffled through the seemingly endless amount of parchment that was placed in front of him. He heard a subtle cough and looked up to see Albus sitting across from him, scribbling away on his own parchment.

Right, Albus had done something at the blasted school and somehow brought their sister back three days ago. Now they had to figure out what exactly to do about it.

Aberforth tapped his finger on the table somewhat as he glanced toward the door. According to Poppy, as Madam Pomfrey insisted on being called, Ariana was perfectly healthy if not exhausted on all levels emotionally, physically, mentally, and magically.

After a long conversation and a detailed description of her previous health and experiences as he and Albus remembered them, Poppy had come to the conclusion that Ariana had been suffering from an internalized fear of her own magic. Apparently this was not too unusual with young witches and wizards, and was even quite common place for those who happened to have more destructive accidental magic. The usual course of action among magical families for this problem was to teach proper control of magic early on, as well as calming mental exercises. He was told this was a way to get the kids to feel comfortable with magic and stop any outbursts caused by anger or fear. Even so, Ariana’s outbursts were far more powerful than was normal. The medi-witch explained that this was most likely due to the fact their family was known to have stronger magical cores, and the explosions of magic were most likely due to her subconsciously suppressing her magic until it just could not be contained any more. Poppy compared it to a balloon filling with air. Normally accidental magic leaked out at random intervals from young witches and wizards, the longer the magic took to leak out, the more of it that would come out when it did. She told them Ariana was lucky she had not ended up an obscurial, however that was usually the result of conscious magic suppression.

Aberforth was more shocked than anything that the solution to this was simply that Ariana needed to do controlled magic with a wand to “release the pressure on her core”. That had been around the time that Albus revealed that their mother had taken it upon herself to start teaching Ariana magic while they had been at Hogwarts. Ariana had revealed quite a bit to him before she knew who she had been talking to apparently, including some daft thoughts she had about them hating her. Something about that thrice damned Grindelwald filling her head with lies. Albus was now quite determined to find a way to ease Ariana into the 20th century’s magical community, starting with her magic.

Which lead to why Aberforth had closed his bar for the week and had spent the last three days in the Hogwarts library, searching through the Hogwarts records from the 1890’s. One of the perks to being the headmaster of Hogwarts was complete access to all student records, according to Albus. If their mother had told Ariana that she would be able to attend Hogwarts if she could control her magic, that meant that Ariana had at one point been accepted to Hogwarts as a student. Once Albus had that letter, he was positive he could manage to enroll her into the new year.

Searching for this letter was of course Aberforth’s job, because Albus was doing something completely different. Oh yes, while Aberforth was dredging through a decade’s worth of student records searching for a single letter, Albus was creating false documents for their sister. They had discussed at length the best way to go about this, and pending the final decision from Ariana herself, they had decided to create a false background for her as Aberforth’s granddaughter. He had kept to himself ever since he graduated school, having focused on his bar so that really no one knew of his personal life. So Albus was busy creating a paperwork history, complete with birth certificates and everything else required to create an existence that no one would question. The last thing they needed were people sniffing around to discover their sister had somehow traveled through time. It was enough that the deputy headmistress and school nurse knew what had happened, however Albus said they were trustworthy, and what else could he do about that?

Aberforth was tired of looking through the records, wanting to take a break and maybe go for a walk. He wanted to go to the medical wing and see if Ariana had woken up yet from her rest. There were too many questions he had that he did not trust Albus to answer, and there were too many answers Albus had given that were unsatisfactory in his opinion.

As he was about to stand up, the doors to the library opened and in walked the very girl he was about to check on. Ariana looked to be nervous, and seemed like she was about to turn back around before catching his eye. Aberforth indeed stood up then, walking over with his arms open for a hug. Once again she seemed to think it over, before quickly rushing forward and hugging him tightly. He felt her relax against him as he gently pat her back, feeling his eyes well up once more before leading her over to the table where Albus was still sitting, watching them with an almost amused look.

“Madam Pomfrey told me you were in here “sorting everything out”, though she wasn’t exactly clear on what that meant…” Ariana sat down on the chair next to Aberforth, looking at the parchment curiously. Aberforth looked at his brother, before deciding he’d rather not leave the explaining to him. “We’re figuring out how to let you attend Hogwarts. Albus told me that Mum had planned on letting you attend, and Poppy agreed that it would be best. We also can’t go around telling people you’re our sister back from the dead, so…” “So instead we’re creating a believable past.” Albus smiled at them from over his paperwork, tapping the parchment with the end of his quill. “We’re going to say you’re Ab’s granddaughter. The child of an estranged son who’s now being left in his care. I’ve taken it upon myself to handle all of the paperwork so that there will be no question in the matter.”

Ariana blinked a few times, looking between Aberforth and Albus. “So… I’ll be able to attend Hogwarts, but I have to tell people I’m Ab’s… granddaughter? What if they ask about my parents?” “You tell ‘em they’re gone now.” Aberforth looked at Albus, since he had yet to hear exactly the story Albus was creating. “Well, taking from some of your actual history, we’re going to say that your father has been out of the picture for a while now. I’m going to sound quite callous about everything but please bear with me Ariana. Your father died years ago in an accident, leaving behind his wife and daughter, you. She then decided to raise you and preferred keeping you home after the war began because she knew you might be a target due to your father’s family. However she died in a Death Eater raid a few months ago, specifically early this past July that ended in many witches and wizards dead.” Albus set his hand on hers over the table, looking into Ariana’s eyes while Aberforth felt uncomfortable. Their mother’s death was still fresh for Ariana, so really it worked best, but that did not mean it was normal to be so point blank about it.

Ariana seemed to be taking in everything, tears appearing in her eyes before she delicately wiped them away with a small sniff. “I… I believe I understand. So… So Aberforth’s… son, died a few years ago, I’m presuming when “I” was six? And then I can just talk about how things were with Mother realistically?” “Yes, precisely. And Aberforth here is simply looking through student records from our youth to try and find your acceptance letter. Mother would not have gotten your hopes up about attending Hogwarts if you hadn’t already been handed the opportunity. Once we have that, I should be able to add you to the roster quite easily. Our only problem now is knowing how far in your education you actually got.”

Ariana nodded and began to explain how she used to take Aberforth’s old books to read through and study from over the school year. While Albus began giving her a subtle quiz on her knowledge, Aberforth continued on his mission through the paperwork from 1895. After quite a while of flipping through the copies of acceptance letters, he stopped when he found his own name. He knew he would have been a year ahead of Ariana, and so skipped the rest of that year and moved on to 1896, quickly sorting through the letters before coming upon three letters to the Dumbledores. First were his own and Albus’ letters, telling them which classes they had and their materials they needed, followed by what was plainly an acceptance letter for their sister.

“Got it!” Aberforth held up the letter as he looked it over. He did not fail to notice Ariana’s jump from his loud voice and smiled a little, handing over the letter to her. He looked toward the next bit of parchment, which was their mother’s apparent response declining the invitation with the only explanation being “for her own good”. Aberforth frowned somewhat reading that, wondering how different things might have been. Collecting the different papers specifically talking about their sister he handed them to Albus, before standing up and rubbing his shoulder. Ariana was looking carefully over her acceptance letter, before reluctantly handing it over to Albus as well.

“Honestly it was probably for the best I didn’t go, I was still terrified of my magic at that time… Madam Pomfrey took the time to explain a few things about my… condition.” Aberforth hummed distractedly, stretching out his tired old muscles that had gotten cramped from sitting so long. “Did she now? It clear up anything for you?”

Ariana was quiet for a bit. “Well… it’s just that, for a long time I did not quite… see my magic as a part of me? After the… the incident, I was terrified of using it. I thought that if I did, that more muggles would see me and I’d be in trouble. I know that was a silly fear, but I was young… It took a while but eventually I stopped thinking that way, and started wanting to actually use my magic, but the first time I tried… Well Albus you had just come back for Christmas and-“ “-And Aberforth and I had a fight, and suddenly you blew out the second floor window when you screamed.” Aberforth snorted, remembering how that had been the first time she had actually shown a strong emotion since the attack. “That was the first time your magic went wild…” “Yes, and… Even after Ab had gone off to Hogwarts I was still a little scared of it, Mother tried to help but it felt like every time I got upset…” She shook her head frowning somewhat. “Well, after I turned eleven, and the two of you had left again… I was curious and started reading over your old first year books. Reading about how spells work and what they did, it made everything much less unknown and scary really. I started actually trying to practice with my magic, following the instructions. Mother caught me and well, first she was scared as well but after we worked together a bit… It was easier, and my outbursts started doing better… I… I hadn’t had one in over a year before…”

Aberforth frowned and sat back down, setting his hand lightly on her back. “Ariana, we never blamed you for that. It hasn’t been that long for you, but for us, that happened decades ago. Neither of us ever blamed you for what happened, you had no control over it.” Ariana smiled shakily up at him, nodding before leaning against him and looking over to Albus. “… Will you really let me attend Hogwarts?” Albus looked up from his work, appearing surprised by the question. “Of course, why ever wouldn’t I? I won’t deny that I’m using my position to our advantage to make it so considering the circumstances, but you were accepted by Hogwarts itself to be allowed to attend years ago. It’s just taken a tad longer than usual. We have your created history almost finished… Actually Aberforth, what name would you have given your son?”

“Heiðþyrnir.”

Albus stopped writing and looked up at him with one of the most deadpan expressions he had seen on his brother’s face in a long time and Aberforth could not help cracking a grin. “You asked.”

“You’re right, I did, and I should have expected that. Shame on me. Would it be too much to ask for you to take this at least mildly seriously?” Aberforth could tell Albus was trying not to smile or laugh at what he had suggested, and he could feel Ariana’s silent giggles next to him, so he had succeeded in what he was trying. “Alright alright… If I had a son I would probably go with Brian after Grandfather. Mum might of approved of that, I’d like to believe.” Albus nodded, continuing his work as he started filling out different forms now.

“Um… Perhaps say he had a muggle mother so that no one would question why he was never around. That is… well I’d think anyone with the last name Dumbledore would be the center of attention anywhere in the wizarding world otherwise.” Ariana spoke up from beside him, talking quietly as if embarrassed. Aberforth hummed and shrugged. “If I’d ‘ave met the right one, I would have married a muggle sure. No one I talk to think much about asking after my personal life.” He’d forgotten that they’d have to make a wife for him, making her a muggle would mean she’d have no history in the wizarding world, and that was for the best really.

“Say she passed in an autamabeel… auto… blasted horseless carriage accident. That’s common enough in the muggle world aye Albus? Have it happen a long while back so as to why I don’t talk about it…” “That could work well yes…”

The three Dumbledores worked together to create a viable history for Ariana, keeping things just close enough to the truth that it would be easy for her and Aberforth to answer any questions asked. He felt weird about making up people he supposedly cared for just to have them die, but the less they had to worry about someone snooping around the better.

“Alright let’s review. I married a muggle woman, Olivia Taylor, nearly fifty years ago. We had one child, a son named Brian, and we sent him to Durmstrang under his mother’s name. The boy grew up and Olivia passed due to a muggle accident a while back.” Aberforth looked to Albus who nodded his head, holding up marriage, birth, and death certificates. “He then married a muggleborn witch, Cassandra, and they had Ariana. Cassandra was already an orphan, and Brian passed due to a potion gone wrong, so Ariana was raised by her mother alone. She opted out of sending her to any school in favor of keeping her close, until this past July when she died in the raid. Due to having no other family she has been left in my care.” Ariana looked a tad uncomfortable, but nodded her head as well. “So I have to get used to calling you Grandfather I suppose?” Aberforth wrinkled his nose at that. “Plenty of kids call their grandparents by name, especially if they haven’t been close. If anyone asks just say you’ve always done it.” “You will have to refer to me as Headmaster or sir however. Even Minerva had her nieces and nephews call her Professor McGonagall when they attended.” Aberforth rolled his eyes, watching as Albus collected the different paperwork he had been working on. When they had asked him what he was going to do with it he had just ambiguously told them not to worry about it, which of course made Aberforth mildly worry about it.

“Now then, with all of that sorted. Aberforth, I do believe that tomorrow you should take your granddaughter to purchase her first wand.”


	5. The Lion The Witch And The Wand

Hogwarts - 28 August, 1976

* * *

The days seemed to both move quicker, and slower at the same time.

Once they had decided on Ariana’s new history, she was suddenly caught in a completely new whirlwind.

Introductions to the different teachers that were there the week before, explanations for why she was there and who she was to the headmaster. They had to decide what classes she was going to take other than the core ones. 

Did she want to find out her house now, or with the first years?

That at least had an obvious answer.

“I’d _really_ rather not stand in front of the whole school and draw attention to myself actually…” Ariana sat in Albus’ office, looking over the different classes she was expected to choose from. So far she had already picked Ancient Runes and Care of Magical Creatures. She was stuck between Muggle Studies and Arithmancy, wondering which of the two would be best for her. Albus, who had been petting his phoenix- Albus _had a phoenix!_ \- Fawkes, looked over at her with a soft smile. “Of course, of course, I should have known really. Well would you like to wait for Ab? He should be back soon with your other school supplies.”

Ariana hummed softly as she crossed out Divination for sure, she knew she was not gifted in THAT after all. “Yes actually. Al- Ahem, _Professor_ , which classes did you take?” “All of them.”

She looked up at her brother, raising an eyebrow as he just continued smiling over there. It was not said in the self confident pompous way he used to speak of his schooling, he was simply stating a fact. He had taken all of the available classes at the time. Ariana could tell that if she had been any normal person, such a response would have really been expected from the Great Albus Dumbledore, after all he was the Greatest Wizard Of Their Time. She felt like she should put a mental trademark after the title even. “… Alright then, which would you suggest I take, Ancient Runes or Muggle Studies?” Her gut reaction had been to reply with sarcasm, however a needling doubt in her head screamed that she should keep from being an annoyance and bother anymore than she already was to her brother. She needed his help in everything already, and really she should have been able to solve this problem herself.

Albus appeared to be taking her question quite seriously though, as if it was truly important to him to help. That made her feel a tad better about asking then. “Let’s see… Honestly I believe we could all do with learning Muggle Studies. However… You in particular are going to have a disadvantage for some time…” He sat at his desk and removed his glasses. “Personally, I think you should only take two classes, rather than three. You already have enough to work on… Are you sure you want to add another class that you don’t really need?”

Ariana had to think about that. Looking between the different classes, she knew he had a point. However she now had an opportunity to actually learn about all of these topics, and just because she was not able to start with everyone else… “… I know… But, I think…” She bit her lip, glancing at her brother before looking away as she gripped at her quill. “I think that I want to take Ancient Runes. I can always ask for help…” She felt herself tense up, waiting for his response.

“Alright.”

“What?”

“I said, alright. These are your classes, and it’s your future. You will be fighting an uphill battle that is for certain, but… I believe you could do it.” Albus smiled at her, holding his hand out for her choices. Ariana smiled, eyes watering somewhat as she marked down Ancient Runes and handed the parchment over to him.

“Now then, I’ll go alert Silvanius, Septima, and Wesley of your attendance, and procure your lists of needed texts and supplies. You and Aberforth can pick them up on your trip to Madam Malkins and Ollivanders.”

Ariana winced at the reminder that her taking so long to choose her classes meant Aberforth needing to take two trips to Diagon Alley rather than one. “Oh he’s going to be so annoyed by that…” “Nonsense, he’ll think nothing of it. I shall return momentarily.” Albus glanced at Fawkes, before turning and walking out of the room. Ariana too looked at the bird, watching as he spread his wings and flapped up once, before gently swooping over and landing in her lap, cooing softly. She smiled realizing Albus must have noticed she was stressed and thought the beautiful animal might help her calm down.

“Perhaps one day he’ll give me your story hmm? Because last time I checked, Albus definitely did _not_ have a phoenix puttering around him. Phoenixes coming to a Dumbledore in need indeed.” Ariana chuckled to herself and sat back in the chair, quietly talking to the bird before hearing the sound of the floo. She looked over and out stepped Aberforth, holding what looked like a shrunken school trunk with her initials on it. She moved Fawkes from her lap and got up, walking over to him. “Thank you, Al- the Headmaster said that we could pick up the last of my supplies when I get my wand…” She felt guilty about that still, looking way from Aberforth and instead looking at her new school trunk. Aberforth snorted softly and rolled his eyes, pushing her trunk into her hands and ruffling her hair lightly. “Stop that, I don’t mind going again. It’s better not to grab everything in one go anyway.”

He walked over to the two chairs by Albus’ desk, sitting down. He gestured to the chair Ariana had just gotten up from and gave a small smile. “Now, which classes did you choose? You were having trouble just choosing two.” “Erm, well I decided to take three of them actually. The Headmaster tried to talk me into only taking two but… Well, now I… I can actually have a whole future now Ab. I have all of these opportunities, and I want to have choices.” She played with the hem of her robe’s sleeve, having borrowed the mildly transfigured robes from Albus. Really he just shrunk down some pale sky blue robes with moving white puffy clouds floating across the fabric. She had found them entertaining at least.

“It’s your life. Not his. I’m glad you put your foot down on it. So which did you decide on?” Ariana looked up at Aberforth’s smiling face and could not help but smile back. “Care of Magical Creatures-“ She ignored the grin that appeared on his face. “- Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes. It took me a while to decide on those actually… I mean part of me wanted to just take what I was interested in but… Well back with Mother, what I read about Arithmancy was that it was good for creating spells. And I enjoyed reading Albus’ Ancient Runes text, but it can help with the study of wards…” “Is that what you want to do? Create your own spells and wards?” Ariana shrugged, biting her lip. “I’d like to have the option at least, and I know I’m going to have to work hard to catch up to everyone but… Well Madam Pomfrey told me I needed to stay active with my magic, and this should help right?” “Aye she did, and it definitely should. Well worse comes to worse, ask for help from classmates, or even from older housemates. That actually reminds me, which house did you get?”

“She hasn’t been chosen for one yet. She wanted to wait until you were here to be placed actually.” Albus had just walked in, holding a parchment with the list of newly required materials. “In fact, I think now would be the best time. Aberforth.” He nodded to his brother in greeting as he handed over the list, before going over to the Sorting Hat and gently removing it from the shelf. “Now I know you’ve heard everything in this room, so I leave the decision to you.” He walked over and unceremoniously placed the hat right over her head, causing her to jump with a slight squeak as her sight was taken from her.

She sniffed the air a little and wrinkled her nose, thinking that the hat was a tad musty. - _Well that’s quite rude. Let’s have you sit on thousands of children over years and see how you smell?­_ \- Ariana jumped at the voice in her head, blushing hard as she realized the hat was actually talking to her. “Sorry.” - _It’s fine just fine. Rare that I have the chance to sort someone older than 11 I’ll tell you that. It happens of course, but still rare. And with your background at that, it’s been decades since I’ve been placed on a Dumbledore, though now I know why. Now then, let’s see… Intelligent, yes, but also hard working and very loyal… Ravenclaw or Hufflepuff would be lucky to have you. However you are indeed quite ambitious aren’t you? And incredibly cunning, you’ve been getting your brothers to do what you want for quite a while now I see… Slytherin fits you nicely yes… And yet it’s never been for yourself that you do this. No, you want to help others, and you’ve been fighting your own battle this whole while. Even as a young child you never quite backed down, you try and do what is best… Ah, and you’d like to keep a connection to your brothers as well? Well then, that does decide it doesn’t it? Yes, my dear it is quite close, but you are most definitely…-_

“Gryffindor!”

Ariana lifted the hat from her head, smiling a little to herself as she handed it back to Albus, who looked to be beaming. “I thought so, but best to be sure after all.” “Well, that felt like it took a bit. It was telling me I’d be okay anywhere, I actually think it said I could be in Slytherin. But I actually wanted to be where you both went.”

For a second, she thought she saw something flicker across Albus’ face, but Aberforth got her attention by standing up. “Well, now we know to get some Gryffindor robes for your classes. Come along then, we should pick up your wand first, then books, and we’ll end with the robes.” Ariana smiled and got up, waving to Albus as she walked with Aberforth to the floo.

* * *

Diagon Alley – 28 August, 1976

* * *

Aberforth pointed out all of the different shops to her once they walked through the floo entrance of Diagon Alley, pointing out what had changed over time. Ariana took in everything, having a grand time just looking at all of the stores. She debated asking Aberforth if they could go to Fortesque’s Ice Cream, but decided against it since he was already helping her get so much. Soon they came up to Ollivanders and Aberforth opened the door for her, walking in after.

“Well now, there’s a face I have not seen in a long time… English Oak if I recall, had to replace your old one… One of the first wands I ever sold, it’s only been 30 years do you need another?” Ariana remembered hearing about her brothers receiving their wands from Ollivanders, though most likely it was from this man’s father. A jarring thought that he was probably born after she was flit through her mind, since he definitely appeared younger than Ab. She never really thought that she would be able to get her own wand but here she was, three days before her first year of attending Hogwarts. Everything felt like it was moving so quickly. “No no, my wand is doing quite well, we’re not here for me. Garrick Ollivander, this is my granddaughter Ariana Dumbledore. She’s starting Hogwarts this year, mother kept her homeschooled til now.” Ariana startled as she saw a tape measure fly out of no where and it began measuring her as Aberforth continued on discussing their previously decided backstory. How she used her mother’s wand but it had been broken during the raid.

It took no time for the wandmaker to start taking out multiple boxes, talking about how surprising it was to meet her, followed by how tricky she was wand after wand seemed to just not quite fit. When a Holly wand with a phoenix feather didn’t take with her he looked to be incredibly confused for a moment, muttering about how sure he had been. Ariana looked at Aberforth, wondering if this was taking too long. All she received from him was a motioned thumbs up as she continued picking up different wands handed to her. After a fair amount of time, Ariana was feeling like this was a failed endeavor. She was working up the courage to tell her brother that maybe they should go, when an excited call from the back of the store was heard.

Garrick Ollivander walked over to them, holding up a wand box in what looked to be triumph. “This is the one, I tell you I am sure of it, this is the wand that will choose you my dear. It is so very rare that I find anyone who fits with a redwood so very very rare. In fact this wand in particular was made by my grandfather, nearly 100 years ago, one of the last wands he made himself in fact.” He opened the box, pulling out a wand that looked to be delicately carved. The handle had a bumpy feel to it while the bottom was rounded with a swirl, making it almost look like a rose. “15 inches, Redwood, using a phoenix feather that had been gifted to my grandfather specifically for it. Now this wand was actually commissioned, however the one who asked for it never returned… Come come, let’s test this one out shall we?” Ariana inhaled a deep breath and gently took the wand from his hands, biting her lip as she looked down at it. She thought it looked quite beautiful, and really hoped that it was the one that would choose her. Giving a gentle wave, a shower of purple sparks erupted from the end, twinkling in the air for a few seconds before fading. Ollivander laughed and clapped his hands excitedly, clasping her shoulder. “Splendid my dear, splendid! I knew we would find it, no reason at all to worry, no reason. Now then, that’ll be 7 galleons of course Mr. Dumbledore.”


	6. Friends In Sweet Places

Diagon Alley - 28 August, 1976

* * *

The look of excitement on her face was something he wanted to keep there as long as possible.

Aberforth had noticed how upset she was getting over the wands not “choosing her” as they were supposed to. To say he was relieved when she finally found a wand that fit her would be an understatement honestly. Once they exited the shop he took a look at the list Albus had handed him, shaking his head with a smile over how she had insisted on taking three extra classes. Maybe he could convince Minerva to ask some prefects to help her with some tutoring? That would help her at least catch up to her classmates. Finding the books she needed was easy enough, though he was getting the sense that the employees were side eyeing him when he was looking away, considering he had already been in the store once today grabbing literally everything else. However he could not care less about it when he watched Ariana looking around at all of the different books excitedly. While she was off looking at other things he picked up the books that he saw caught her interest more so than the others, grabbing a book on knitting spells, one on wand lore, and two separate fictional novels that had caught her eye.

The trip felt like a quick success and finally they just had to get her fitted for her school robes, something he felt would take no time at all. After all it was just a few school robes.

This was his mistake.

Once inside the store, Ariana was looking at all of the different and new styles of robes. She looked absolutely amazed by the styles of robes she saw around them, and it took him a minute to realize that robes had indeed changed a lot in 70 years, specifically those for younger witches. He remembered some of the young witches coming into the Hogshead wearing trousers even these days, something about muggle fashion. He felt uncomfortable, knowing that she should have the more recent styles if she wanted to fit in with the other children her age, and was sure to mention this to Madam Malkin as the woman started her measurements. This simply lead to her berating him for taking so long to bring “the poor dear” in for her robes. Ariana looked completely bewildered as she was surrounded in different fabrics, stuttering out her preferred colors for different casual robes that he had not been planning on getting.

Aberforth decided to sit down as he waited for her to finish, watching the multicolored fabrics fly around them, as well as some plain black robes with red Gryffindor lining. It took much longer than he thought it would, but soon enough Ariana had everything required for her uniform, plus five separate outfits Madam Malkin had made for her. He chuckled as he noticed two of them appeared to be Slytherin green robe and silver swirls around it, and Gryffindor red with what looked like golden flames, she probably had not even realized she asked for it. The other three were a light powder blue with silver that made him think of a river, a deep navy blue with what appeared to be silver constellations, and a soft forest green with dark brown undertones. He fully blamed Albus’ insane fashion choices for what she chose.

Aberforth wondered if she would want any muggle clothes at some point, but decided that he’d cross that bridge when they came to it. Hopefully by then she’d have made some friends in school to give her an idea. He was a man in his 90s, how was he supposed to have any idea of what a teenage girl was supposed to want these days? Once they had the robes he collected their merchandise and shrunk it down into a book bag he had gotten for her, the leather satchel having an undetectable extension charm on it. He figured that it would be a good investment considering her workload.

“Alright, that should be everything. Anything you want to get while we’re here?” He looked over and noticed her eyeing the ice cream parlor, before she looked away and shook her head with a smile. “Mm-mm, I think we have everything I need. We should probably get back to Hogwarts.” Aberforth rose an eyebrow, stopping to look her right in the face. “Are you sure? There’s nothing you can think of?” He watched her shake her head again, still smiling. “No, I need to have one more check up with Madam Pomfrey. Um… Am I going to move into the bar, or should I ask Al- the Headmaster if I can move into the Gryffindor dorms?”

Aberforth rolled his eyes and pushed her lightly from behind, ignoring her protests as he took her to the ice cream parlor. He was hearing none of her worries or complaints at this, he felt it was his right as her guardian to spoil her a little before she went off to Hogwarts.

\--AKD--

Ariana was embarrassed as she stood with her brother in line, waiting for their turn as she looked over all of the different options. She supposed that she had been a tad too obvious earlier, but Aberforth insisted that it was fine. Deciding on getting a scoop of butterbeer ice cream, she took the time to look around the shop. With it being the Saturday before school term being back in session there were actually quite a few children there. She caught the eye of one of the older girls in the shop and looked away quickly, blushing at having been caught looking at people.

Ariana suddenly felt a sense of dread about the upcoming school year as she realized this was going to be the first time she was going to be in a social situation. The last time she had met someone new it had been Gellert bloody Grindelwald and look how THAT turned out? What if no one liked her? What if it turned out she was bad at everything? She had not thought this through, what was she expecting?

Aberforth nudged her from behind to have her move forward in line, snapping her out of her thoughts.

Ariana shook her head a little and told the ice cream vender which she wanted, trying to talk herself up in her own mind. She was fine, there were plenty of people attending Hogwarts and she was bound to meet some people who could be friends. Everything was going to work out wonderfully, she was going to be attending Hogwarts, and if she ever really needed to she could go visit Albus. 

She glanced back at the girl who she made eye contact with, only to see that the whole group of girls were looking at her now.

Well, that was definitely not what she was expecting.

Ariana felt herself flush as she awkwardly raised her hand in a partial wave, before looking away quickly as she was handed her ice cream. She now deeply regretted being so obvious about wanting to come here. When she watched Aberforth walk to the table right by them she felt like her heart was racing as she followed and sat across from him, trying to keep her head down somewhat.

“Hey now, what’s with that look?” Aberforth nudged her with his foot, looking mildly perturbed about something. She quickly tried to school her face into something else, but that just caused Ab to snort softly. “Don’t do that, you and I both know you can’t lie to me. I may be out of practice but you’re obviously nervous.”

“… A little…” She stared at her ice cream, feeling less inclined to eat it at the moment.

Aberforth looked at her seriously. “Is it about going to Hogwarts? Albus already told you that you’re not the first to join late. Bloody ‘ell I know some kids who leave Hogwarts to attend Beauxbatons or even Ilvermorny. It may not be common, but it happens. No one’ll give you any trouble for being new.” Ariana smiled a little at that, shrugging. “Maybe… What if I don’t make any friends? Or what if they think I’m… odd.” Aberforth chuckled a little at that. “Darling, you’re Ariana Dumbledore, to the world the Headmaster is your great uncle, and I’m your grandfather. That ship has sailed, you are odd. Be proud of it, don’t be a door mat. You’re a Gryffindor, that means you have it in you to be brave.”

Ariana felt her worries finally die down, smiling to herself. “You’re right, of course you’re right… Thank you.” She ate her ice cream, enjoying the creamy sweetness of it. To say she was surprised by the feeling of someone tapping her shoulder would be a vast understatement, as she jumped a good few inches in her chair before whipping her head around.

It was one of the girls from the group that had been somewhat watching her since she walked in. There were four of them, the blonde who had just tapped her shoulder, a brunette, another blonde with hair longer than the first, and a girl with red hair. The other three were giggling after seeing her reaction.

“Sorry, didn’t mean to startle you. Just, we couldn’t help but to overhear-”

Ariana felt mortified, whether she was blushing or paling she could not say, but either way her face was flashing a different color now.

“-you’re starting out at Hogwarts this year right?”

All she could manage was a small nod of affirmation.

“Brilliant! We’re Gryffindors ourselves, it’s Mary’s birthday today so we decided to meet up before school starts. I’m Artemis Smith.” The brunette, Artemis, gestured to the long haired blonde as she mentioned the birthday.

Ariana looked at Aberforth, who gestured for her to keep talking. “Um, hello, I-I’m Ariana, Ariana Dumbledore. This is my… grandfather, Aberforth Dumbledore.”

“I’m Alice Macmillan, Mary Macdonald, and Lily Evans.” Alice pointed out both Mary and the red haired girl who was now identified as Lily. “We’re going into our 6th year at Hogwarts, thank Merlin OWLs are over.” Glancing from Aberforth back to Ariana, Alice smiled. “So if you’re not a first year, which year are you going into?”

“Well, I’m going into fourth year actually.” Ariana smiled a little, still feeling a bit embarrassed. The girl called Lily smiled and leaned forward. “You’re totally nervous about it right? I was exactly the same when I was first going to Hogwarts. I was lucky enough to have a friend with me, that made things easier.” “I-I can’t help but feel nervous, yes. I have so much to catch up on too…” Mary smirked and nudged Lily. “Well, you’re lucky to have met with the 6th year Gryffindor Prefect before school starts.” Lily rolled her eyes but smiled. “Honestly that’s fair. I don’t have to worry about OWLs or NEWTs yet so if you have any questions about the subjects you’re taking… what did you choose for your electives?” “Oh, well, I chose Care of Magical Creatures, Arithmancy, and Ancient Runes.” “Ah, well I can’t help much with Arithmancy. I chose Divination instead, glad I could drop it though… The other Prefect could help you.” “Lupin’s always willing to help anyone who asks.”

The conversation continued on as such, Ariana feeling more and more comfortable with the girls, but she felt bad about not including Ab. She kept looking between Aberforth and the other girls, then sat up straight when he rolled his eyes and got up. “Ab?” “No no, stay, chat, I’ll bring these back to Al. I’ll be back in a bit. Have fun.” He looked her in the eyes and winked, before taking the book bag with him as he walked out of the store leaving Ariana completely bewildered. She suddenly felt like she was intruding on the older girls and nervously looked at them, almost expecting them to make excuses and leave right away.

Instead of that, they simply continued on with their previous conversation, warning her about different teachers and what they expected work-wise, as well as telling her which students to avoid. There were quite a few bullies from Slytherin she needed to keep away from, as well as a group of boys in six year who apparently were known for their pranks. There seemed to be mixed messages about the last group though. Mary and Artemis talked about their antics as though they were amusing and playful. Lily and Alice on the other hand spoke of the pranks as childish and often cruel.

“You only say that because of-“ “Don’t. I really would rather not speak of _him_ if you don’t mind.” Lily cut off Mary with a cool tone that left no room for argument. She looked quite angry about something, and the other girls looked at each other as though sharing a secret, and simply moved on. “Point of this, watch out when you see them walking around. They especially like to mess with first years, and you’re as good as.” Alice spoke not unkindly, simply stating a fact. “Potter acts like he rules the school, only going to get worse since he’s quidditch captain this year.”

Lily groaned and rolled her eyes. “You’re right, ugh, and Black is just as big headed as Potter, he’s arrogant and think’s he’s just the best thing since Merlin.”

“He’s cute though.” At the look Lily gave her Artemis just hummed and gave a shrug. “What? He’s an arse but I have eyes, the Blacks produce attractive people in general.” Ariana giggled a little and shook her head. “Alright, so watch out for Potter and Black in particular.” “Right, and like we said Lupin’s alright, if a bit of an odd ball. You’d think being a prefect would stop him from letting his friends get away with everything. But if you have any questions about school work? He’ll help you out.” Alice looked at her friends. “Meanwhile, Pettigrew… He’s… He follows along with whatever Potter or Black come up with. He doesn’t really do anything unless they’re in on it.”

“So I just avoid the leaders and the others won’t bother me?” “Precisely, in fact it’s possible they may not even notice you’re new, they don’t tend to talk to the younger years that often, too caught up in their own pranks most of the time…”

Ariana listened to the girls, trying to take in all of the information they were telling her as the conversation moved from the pranksters to other students of interest. The Quidditch team was not to be messed with when it came to training, there was a large number of Slytherins that she apparently should never be alone with, History of Magic was basically a free period and if she wanted to learn she needed to self study, and Professor McGonagall was an animagus so if she saw a tabby cat with markings over its eyes that looked like her glasses be careful to follow the rules.

Once the warnings were out of the way the topic changed to slight personal questions. Ariana was able to use the cover story her brothers and her had come up with, about being raised by her mother and how she had passed recently. The tears she held back as she talked about her were real since it had only been a few months for her since her mother passed, this earned sympathy from the other girls. She explained how she was now living in Hogsmeade at her grandfather’s bar and how she liked to help him feed the goats, and how in her spare time she enjoyed knitting. By the time Aberforth came back to pick her up she felt closer to the girls as they taught her about some recent muggle music that she hadn’t heard of before, promises being made to play the records in the common room when school started. A few quick goodbyes, including some crushing hugs, and she made her way back with her brother to the floo.

“So I take it you’re not so nervous now?” He teased gently as he reached for the floo powder. Ariana smiled and shook her head. “This year is going to be fantastic!”


End file.
